Introduction

Sometimes a nagging worry sends a parent on an internet search
to learn if a child has the symptoms of a particular problem in
hopes of allaying fears or at least getting some ideas about what
to do. Othertimes, parents want more information to develop
strategies for a child's identified challenges. Due to the
expanding volume of information on the Web, parents often have
difficulty finding the information they want. Equally problematic
is that they have difficulty determining the credibility of the
information they do find. This WEBLIST briefly describes and links
you to web sites that contain articles, newsletters, information
and advice about the emotional, cognitive and mental health
development of children and adolescents. There are also parental
support sites. These sites have been selected primarily for
the quality of the information provided. As some of the
designated categories and the sites themselves have overlapping
information and are not selected as the sole perspective on a
topic, searching through several sites for information on any
single issue is recommended. The goal of the hotlist is to
give easy access to the best child development information on the
Web. These links below will get you started.

The Internet Resources

General Information

These general sites are health and mental
health sites with information about children and adolescence in all aspects of health
care.

Harvard Medical
School's Consumer Health Information (And More) - Children's
health, medical dictionary, drug information and conditions
and diseases. It is an excellent general health site. For mental
health click on 'conditions and diseases', then mental
health and click on children and teens. It's a large health
site - it takes some maneuvering to get what you want, but
information is dependable.

Massachusetts General Hospital School Psychiatry Program - This site will help you assess and address the needs of your child
with depression, bipolar disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity
disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and anxiety disorders, including
panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder and includes
information about helping your child to succeed in school.

Child and Adolescent Mental
Health (NIMH) - The National Institute of Mental Health
provides multiple articles on topics as varied as Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Depression, children
and violence and learning disorders. It is an excellent site for
parents teachers and professionals in Mental Health.

Children
and Depression - A helpful brief article answering the
following questions: how prevalent is depression, what should
parents look for, how serious is it and what are some treatment
considerations?

The Renfrew Center For Eating Disorders
- While this is a treatment facility, the country's first residential
eating disorder facility, the site has lots of useful, practical
suggestions and facts for individuals and parents seeking to learn about
eating
disorders.

Attention
Deficit Warehouse - Assessment and treatment information about
kids designed for parents, teachers and mental health
professionals. Medication Chart and Guidelines For
Parenting among available articles. Useful access to
available resources and books.

Down
Syndrome - Health Issues by Len Leshin, M.D., Medical essays on Down Syndrome
and issues common to children with Down Syndrome. It also has an
extensive listing of other Down Syndrome Websites and some recommended
books.

Griefnet - An Internet
Community Coping With Grief - GriefNet.org is an
internet community of persons dealing with grief, death, and major
loss. They have 47 e-mail support groups and two web sites, one
includes 'Kidsaid' , a grief community for kids. Sounds impersonal
but can be a source of support.

Parent Information

Parent Information -
National Network For Childcare with articles on stress, balancing
work and family, parenting teens, deciding on early dating,
teens use of the internet, discipline and more. Well worth
exploring.

Kids
Health - This excellent Nemours Foundation created site has a
parent, kid and teen health component with many features. Look for
emotion and behavior link for mental health information, but
information is available for general health as well. Newsletter..

Parenting
Resources - Solid site developed by a psychologist with easy
access and relevant issues for parenting. Very topical with
helpful linkages. Try this one.

Talk With Your
Kids - Ideas about how to discuss difficult topics with
your kids, including issues such as drugs and alcohol, sex and
terrorism.

PFLAG: Parents, Families and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays - PFLAG promotes the health and
well-being of gay and lesbian persons, their families and friends
through support, education and advocacy to end discrimination and
to secure equal civil rights. PFLAG provides opportunity for
dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to
create a society that is healthy and respectful of human
diversity. Click on "Education", then see "Schools and Youth" and
"Parents and Families".

Family Education - Find valuable resources for parents on the Web. School resources, idea exchange, dating, puberty and discipline, message boards and advice for parents. There is more on education than mental health.

The Brain and
Learning - For parents and educators, accessible but
professional-quality articles on the brain's relationship to motivation, stress, mood, reading, dyslexia, teenage decision making, alcohol's effect on the brain and
more. Excellent.

Bullying.org
Where You Are Not Alone The most comprehensive site on
bullying. It strives to eliminate bullying in society by
supporting individuals and organizations to take positive actions
against bullying through sharing resources and developing
solutions to the challenges and problems associated with bullying.
Many articles and books for parents and kids, as well as submitted
stories.

What Can Be Done About
Cyberbullying? Helpful advice for victims of cyberbullying and
those trying to help them. It is a Canadian based website offering
specific advice for parents and kids about what can be done and
how to prevent bullying on Instant Messaging (IM), cell phones,
email etc. It includes a list of cyber terms, emoticons and
acronyms to help parents decipher messages. Click on "What Can be
Done".

Protecting Kids From
Internet Pornography and Online Risks This site provides
practical information and tips on types and sources of sexually
explicit content, ways that inappropriate material can reach
children and teens, the threat of cyberstalking, the pros and cons
of filtering and monitoring tools, and other issues involving
Internet safety.

To contact Dr. Farina, Dr. Parker or Ms Bernstein for further
correspondence, Wayland School parents can click on our email
addresses below. Feedback about additional relevant links
or any current "dysfunctional" sites is welcome.

Disclaimer:
These suggested links are not endorsements of any of the
ideas or products found among these links. We have not read
every document accessible by these pages and we are unable
to keep up with all the changes being made at every site we
have links to. Furthermore, we take no responsibility for
the consequences of any action you might take based upon
reading the documents referenced. If you believe you or your
child has a disorder, we recommend that you seek out the
help of a licensed health care professional. Users are
cautioned to remember that some posts are made by lay
persons and are anecdotal in nature

Disclaimer of Liability: Wayland
Public Schools and employees shall not be liable to the
users of this site or to its listed participants for the
content, quality, performance or other aspect of any
information provided by the listed participants and
transmitted by this site, or for any errors in the
transmission of said information. Nor are we responsible to
any person for any damages arising in any manner out of the
use of this site. The users and participants acknowledge
that they assume all risk and/or responsibility for any loss
or damage arising from the uses to which this site is put.
We shall not be held liable in any way, shape or form for
misuse or abuse of this site by any user or
participant.